Tag Archives: car customizer

If you are a certain age, you’ll remember the TV hit- The Munsters. This comedy featured some famous bits and even some neater cars, like the Drag-U-La. It seems strange that the producers would allow purpose built cars that would last for only a few episodes. But we’re glad they did.

Drag-U-La

The story line was that Grandpa had to build a dragster to race and win back Herman’s “The Munster Koach”. So Hollywood had George Barris produce the car/casket vehicle. While Barris has been known for claiming credit for builds that are barely linked to his firm, this one was designed by Tom Daniel under his auspices. Richard Korkes took on the build and used an actual coffin for the “body”.

The original car moved among sellers after the series and a movie ended. At one point it was owned by Planet Hollywood. The Volo Car Museum had it for a while before flipping it. By then it had a 302 engine and an automatic transmission.

Drag-U-La Recreation

So why are we talking about a custom car from the 60’s? Because auction house Russo and Steele has a recreation of the Drag-U-La on their docket for this weekend. We had a chance to part the crowds at a recent Cars and Coffee and check it out on the flat bed tow truck.

Drag-U-La’s Design

This version has the reliable 350 ci engine and a two speed PowerGlide automatic transmission. With such little weight, only functional rear brakes were installed. Just like the original, the exhaust pipes sweep up to look like a church’s organ pipes. The seller claims plenty of “vintage” car parts but also indicates the have “custom made vintage air cleaner”.

This front engine coffin will certainly be a crowd pleaser when you pull up, but the single seat does limit the ability to hop onto the HOV lanes. Hopefully this is a car you would “die for?”

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Gas Monkey Garage, Where Are You?

At the January, 2018 Barrett-Jackson Car Auction held in Scottsdale, AZ there are over 1700 cars and trucks ready to sell. But the venerable Gas Monkey Garage, with Richard Rawlings and Dennis “I need my name on every shirt I wear” Collins are nearly invisible.

Gas Monkey Garage

As mentioned previously the most recognizable Gas Monkey Garage selling vehicle is the 1956 Nomad that Rawlings did for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mountain Dew. It has drawn some interest under the tent and it will be interesting to see what it brings.

Gas Monkey Garage’s GT350

As for Gas Monkey Garage, there is a nearly new 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustang that was on the Fast N’ Loud series on the Discovery channel. Rawlings drove it onto the track when he was building a car for Kurt Busch. From the seller’s description it indicates the car “was personally owned by Richard Rawlings of gas Monkey Garage”. So it is anybody’s guess if the seller is actually Richard Rawlings.

For the car itself, it has less than 200 miles on the Mustang. It is black inside and out along with a vivid red racing stripe. Not sure why the seller hasn’t taken care of a recall for an engine oil cooler tube assembly replacement yet. After all it wasn’t on the road that much.

The Shelby Mustang is the 5.2 V8 engine with the six speed manual transmission. It sells on Friday (the seller couldn’t even get a Saturday docket number?) So if you were expecting a fleet of Gas Monkey Garage cars at the auction his week, you might be disappointed.

So do you think the GT350 will sell for above retail? After all it is nearly new and hardly abused?

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Gas Monkey Garage at Barrett-Jackson Car Auction

At this week’s Barrett-Jackson Car Auction, the presence of Gas Monkey Garage is sparse. A 56 Nomad done for Mountain Dew and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a can’t miss green and silver color scheme is the most obvious car linked to the Gas Monkey Garage crew.

Gas Monkey Garage

For a spell the bar outside the auction stage was a Gas Monkey Garage theme, but that has dropped out. I suspect that Richard Rawlings might show up since he’s selling his 2016 Shelby Mustang GT350R with only a scant 200 miles clicked on the odometer. But who knows for sure? That Mustang is slated to sell on Friday.

Gas Monkey Garage Past Offerings

We’ve kept a close eye on Gas Monkey garage’s offerings even before the series became a monster hit. Remember this hot rod from the early years?

As for the Nomad, who wouldn’t remember that bright green custom wagon? The current owner has a neat set of sunshades on the rear windows. The wagon has a 350 CI Chevy ZZ4 crate motor, TH350 automatic transmission, air conditioning and all the trick goodies. This video shows the wagon in action.

Gas Monkey Garage Season 4 Fast N’ Loud

Gas Monkey Garage built the car in 2013 during their fourth season on Discovery and of course they had an impossible deadline to beat. This car was used as a promotion for Mountain Dew, one of Earnhardt’s sponsors and hence the color on the 56 Nomad. Of course fans of Richard Rawlings know that his favorite color is green. Both for cars and for money.

The car had previously been offered for sale on eBay at $78,500 nearly four years ago. It also was offered on the internet at $69,500. So it will be interesting to see what the car fetches on prime time Saturday. Any guesses?

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Okay I’ll admit it.I like cute.And sometimes a car comes along that is just darn cute.The folks at Honda put some sugar on their new 2018 Honda Odyssey van and overdosed on cuteness.Throw in a tribute to Disney and bam you have total cuteness to the nth degree. Thanks to their Minnie Van

Minnie Van

Each year Disney fans gather for the Disney D23 Expo.Think of it as Comic Con for Disney fans.So Honda crafted a Minnie Van that they displayed at the show.Of course a Minnie creation had to be in pink polka dots and sport some ears and a sporty bow.

Honda Odyssey Minnie Van

The new Honda Odyssey matches well with the target audience of soccer moms and dads needing to haul a bunch of tykes to here and there.The new 2018 version builds on the best selling minivan in America and is made in the USA. The Odyssey has been the top selling van for the past seven years and this new build increases the ride and looks of the minivan segment.

So my guess is the Minnie Van will be making the rounds around the country, putting some smiles on lots of faces and maybe a Mickey van will soon appear?

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BMW Art Car #18

BMW released their latest art car last week and Chinese artist Cao Fei made a stunning offering. This was the 18th version of a BMW Art Car. She used technology, including an app, to allow an interactive approach to the artwork. Ironically the 19th BMW Art Car was released earlier than this version. You can’t rush artists I guess.

Cao Fei is quoted as saying, “The #18 Art Car questions the existence of the boundaries of the human mind. We are entering a new age, where the mind directly controls objects and where thoughts can be transferred, such as unmanned operations and artificial intelligence.”

The chassis itself is a BMW M6 GT3 racecar with the original carbon black. The car is powered by a 4.4-litre V8 engine with twin turbo’s. That translates to 585 hp with a six-speed sequential racing transmission.

It took three years to develop the car after she was selected as the artist. But this art work doesn’t just sit on a gallery floor. It will be raced by BMW works driver Augusto Farfus at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau in November, 2017.

The BMW Art Car Collection

BMW Art Cars started as a formal tradition in 1975 and Alexaner Calder crafted a BMW 3.0 CSL that subsequently raced at 1975 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW houses the cars in a Munich, Germany museum. Notable artists include Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and others.

BMW Art Car #19

In November, 2016 a BMW GTLM was unveiled by artist John Baldessari as another BMW Art Car (#19) and it raced at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, 2017.

Many companies sponsor art competitions or have artwork at their companies. But not many go to the extent that BMW does. We always look forward to their next release.

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1967 Jaguar XKE

Recently Ken Roberts from Arizona built a recreation of the original Jaguar hearse from the cult classic “Harold and Maude”. In the movie the lead actor is obsessed with death and so converts a Jaguar to be a hearse. In the movie they used a 67 Jaguar.

It took this build four years to complete, starting with a 2+2 coupe. The owner is having a good time showing this hearse around the country. He is a bit secretive about the build and who built the original movie car.

Local Showing for the Jaguar

We got a chance to see it at a small, local show (Catch A Wave) in Tempe, AZ and was quite impressed with the build. Of course you have to be of a certain age to even know about the movie, but the black beauty was a top notch build.

Hope you enjoy our death defying shots of this “digger”.

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Alumatub, Boyd Coddington’s third all aluminum build sells at the Barrett-Jackson auction this week. This was the third in a series of aluminum bodied customs that Coddington produced. The top can come off to allow for a roadster feel.

Alumatub Specs

This one is powered by a Chevy small block 350 and sends power to the back through a Chevrolet TH350 transmission with a quick change rear end. The body work was done by famed master Marcel‘s Custom Metal and is hard to believe this was hand formed and not stamped out on a press. Our friends at Hot Rod sure loved it.

Alumatub Build

This hand crafted Boyd Coddington build was showcased on his TV show, “American Hot Rod” TV series which can still be seen on the Discovery Channel. After Coddington’s untimely death, it was thought that his builds would increase in value as his output was now finalized.

Alumatub Prices

Alumatub first sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2005 to Ron Pratte with a listed price, including commissions, of $170,500. He sold it ten years later for $187,000 in 2015. The current owner is selling this year and it’ll be interesting to see what it sells for.

Any guesses?

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Wes and Vivian Rydell have commissioned some great classic cars over the years. Earlier this year at the Del Mar Goodguy’s show, their 1940 Oldsmobile “Agnes” was selected for the 2016 Street Rod d’Elegance Award.

1940 Oldsmobile

This rod had languished for a spell before finally being completed by Rad Rides by Troy. We took these shots when they displayed it in Scottsdale, AZ at the Spring National Goodguy’s Show. They have won this award twice before, including in 2014 with their controversial 1935 Chevy Phaeton.

Madame X

Now we can’t wait for the 2016 SEMA Show, where they will be unveiling “Madame X”, a 1939 Cadillac coupe. It is a takeoff on a concept design based on a 1935 Cadillac 60 Special Sedan originally designed by GM stylist Art Ross. So this car was never built until Chip Foose opted to take on the build.

SEMA 2016

Of all the unveilings scheduled during the SEMA Show, this is the most anticipated with some sneak peeks offered recently. Can’t wait to see it in person on Tuesday!

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You probably have seen a car, typically a classic, with some gold leafing. You know the look! It is a muddled gold look that still radiates and sparkles. Sometimes painters will use silver leaf for the same look.

Well New York artist Dove Bradshaw has come up with a new way to use silver leaf as an art medium. She put silver leaf on a museum wall and has let it stay exposed to the elements. So over time and exposure to the elements, it should change it’s appearance.

Now we’ll leave it to our readers to say whether it is art or not. But if you can put it on a car, why not a museum wall? You can check out the artwork information from the Phillips Collection here.